Shaking up status quo food environments

Shaking up status quo food environments

In-person Business Forum dinner meeting

In 2025, our Business Forum community is exploring what a good food environment in 2030 looks like and what is needed to get there. In this second dinner meeting of 2025, we will ask how we can empower small food businesses in order to have more diverse food environments in the future.

There’s a need to shift away from an increasingly – some would say overly – concentrated food market. It’s surely important for agri-food businesses to better reflect the communities they operate in. Small food businesses are too often ignored and underestimated. They are your neighbours, your community, your suppliers and your customers. In cut-throat, price-sensitive 2025, many independents are struggling. As we look ahead to 2030, are there ways to embrace and promote smaller and medium-sized food enterprises?

How can we collectively shape a vision for our food environment where smaller players are empowered and power is more evenly distributed? How can food businesses themselves promote greater diversity in our food stores and in our canteens, hospitals, schools and prisons? What role for independent outlets – and how they can be supported? How can challenger brands be encouraged and helped to have greater impact?

This in-person dinner meeting in central London will provide an opportunity for participants to:

• Learn more about the value SME businesses can, and could, play in the food system
• Consider what can be done to support more local food stores and outlets, including independents
• Explore how to empower small food businesses and challenger brands in food value chains
• Consider how we can have more diverse and vibrant food retail and foodservice sectors
• Explore practical steps and collaborative opportunities to shape fairer and more diverse food environments in the future

Speakers will include James Lowman, Chief Executive of the Association of Convenience Stores (ACS) and Thea Alexander, CEO and Co-founder of YF, leading consultancy for high growth FMCG brands (the ‘voice of the FMCG challenger community’). The discussion will be chaired by Jason Archie-Acheampong, member of Food Ethics Council.

Note: this event is for members of our Business Forum. If you’re not a member and are interested in finding out more about how to become a member, please contact Dan via dan@foodethicscouncil.org.